GRAND RAPIDS -- Singer-songwriter TobyMac offered a prediction of what the musical evening would be like during his Van Andel Arena concert stop with fellow artist Chris Tomlin.

"We'll sing and worship together with Chris' songs, and then we'll come out and have a party with me and the Diverse City band," said Toby while introducing Tomlin's opening set.

And so it was -- with Tomlin's worship-based, sing-along melodies followed by an oft-times wonderfully-unpredictable second half with TobyMac and his mix of hip-hop/R&B/pop/funk with his talented band members.

Tomlin's lyrics most often use phrases lifted right from the scriptures, extolling the attributes of God. He led with "Our God" and "Sing, Sing, Sing" which the crowd of more than 5,000 easily sang along with, helped by lyrics shown on the giant screens above the stage.

In a segment featuring only Tomlin and band guitarist Daniel Carson, the praise song "Indescribable" was performed before a background images of stars in space without on-screen lyrics. Yet a tribute to the popularity of his music was how many in the crowd knew the words and sang along.

The hopeful "I Will Rise" was another highlight.

"How Great Is Our God," his closing song, was punctuated by a reprise of the chorus of the opening "Our God."

After intermission TobyMac (aka Toby McKeehan), and his nine-member Diverse City band were ready to party, starting with the declarative "Tonight," the title song of his latest CD.

Armed with a DJ (DJ-Mag), dancer-singers Shonlock, Nirva Ready and Gabe (Real) Patillo, and Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers, Toby had plenty of firepower in hitting hard with tunes like "Showstopper" and a send up of his early hit "J-Train."

Most luscious was "Boomin'" in which the players converged with choreography and harmony.

Multi-instrumentalist Tim Rosenau performed on both guitar and trumpet during the evening, adding spice to the mix.

"No matter what you're going through tonight... you rest in the hands of a loving and loving God," said Toby shortly after his tune "Made to Love."

After a brief band-only interlude Toby, Patillo and Rosenau suddenly appeared together on a mid-arena stage near the soundboard, and offered "unplugged" mini-versions of songs such as "Catcha' Fire" and "Gone."

During the affirmative "Get Back Up," Toby made his way down a side aisle and climbed onto the wall surrounding the arena floor as he deftly ventured back to the main stage. A nice effort from the 45-year-old artist who had promised "to give it all we got."

For an encore, Toby performed the serene "City On Our Knees" (made more poignant by added video images), and was joined on stage by Tomlin who nicely tagged it with his song "God of This City."

Then it was back to party mode and Toby and band went into "Jesus Freak," his seminal hit from his days with his former band dcTalk. Even Tomlin joined in the fray.

It turned out to be an interesting pairing of artists who musical styles are different, but whose spiritual underpinnings intertwine.